Tuesday, January 31, 2012

I laundered nearly all my clothes (certainly every last pair underwear and all my gym clothes).

I made Deb's amazing carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting (it's amazing so I then spent 2 days foisting it on neighbors so I won't actually eat it). The only modifications I made were to reduce the amount of sugar in the cake by half a cup, to swap nutmeg for cloves (out of nutmeg and didn't feel like going back out) and to make less frosting than the recipe yields (having made it last year and being left with a ton of delicious frosting was a challenge I chose not to revisit on myself - damn that frosting is delicious!)

Then, since I had about two cups of grated carrots left I made tuna pasta salad to bring to work for the next few days (but no carrot cake because my co-workers; especially the narky one, don't deserve such goodness). I also mixed some carrots into mac & cheese because I find that to be tasty and the colors match up well. Oh, your foods aren't usually color compatible? I don't know how you live.

I watched One Day, not a good movie at all (and I knew this, for I'd been warned) yet a fairly good book, go figure. I also watched Our Idiot Brother which was a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. The saddest part of the weekend was surely when I realized I was totally caught up with Shameless and now I have to wait and watch it as it airs. Like... like... a commoner. I also finished reading a book I didn't care for at all. Everything We Ever Wanted by YA phenom Sara Shepard. This blurb could not have missed the mark more;

This riveting, provocative and well-crafted family drama surprised and delivered at every turn. I could not put it down.” (Sarah Mlynowski, author...)

I was so able to put it down I left it at work over a weekend, started reading another book forgetting I had this going and then speed/scan read to finish it already. I was not-riveted, reading this tiny little book quickly became kind of a chore to finish, specifically because it was neither provocative, well-crafted or surprising. The surprises in the book? How small the story seemed, how one note the characters were. The big twist/big reveal is so small and unremarkable I kept going back to see if I'd missed something bigger. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this book was mainly published on the strength of her young adult writing/books. There was genuinely no story here, though I could feel that way because I'm coming off of reading a rich and intricate book. And now for pure hypocrisy; I think I watched the entire season of Kourtney and Kim Take NY. I'm not proud per se, just accomplished.

4 comments:

I would do anything for a slice of your carrot cake, name the deed and it will be done.

I've been sleeping like crap for forever basically and so one night this week during the 2-4 am witching hours I watched the movie Kill List - major mistake. I think watching that did nothing more for me than further ingrain my sleeplessness.

Last Sunday night I watched the first episode of the new HBO Series Luck - slow start but does have a great cast and a very good writer - I hope it grows on me.

We need to have lunch together soon, or at least carrot cake and coffee.